Missouri man pleads guilty of sex trafficking a minor, conspiracy

Staff report

Published
8:16 pm CDT, Sunday, May 15, 2016

EAST ST. LOUIS — A Park Hills, Missouri man plead guilty Friday in federal district court to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and by force, fraud or coercion, and one count of sex trafficking of a minor and by force, fraud, or coercion, according to the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, James L. Porter.

Marcus Dewayne Thompson, 28, plead guilty in federal court in East St. Louis, Illinois. Thompson is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 29 before the Honorable Michael J. Reagan, at which time he faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, not more than five years of supervised release after his prison term, a mandatory special assessment of $200 and restitution.

Court proceedings revealed that during a six-week period in June and July 2015, Thompson orchestrated a venture with his wife, co-defendant Robin Thompson, which involved the recruitment, transportation, and advertisement of a minor female from Illinois for commercial sex acts in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. attorneys’ offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel T. Kapsak.